August 18, 2020
Tehran, Iran
Open Conspiracy File 🟢
According to the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the “official” death toll from Coronavirus in the country surpasses 89,600. However, people in the know remain skeptical of any number the government puts out publicly.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources close to the Ayatollah state the number is actually 300,000, over triple the official account. Despite this, Iran continues to underplay the seriousness of the COVID crisis. Additionally, the Iranian government has shut down news agencies that have tried to tell the truth on the coronavirus.
Authorities in Iran have come under heavy criticism since the start of the pandemic because of their reluctance to impose the kind of sweeping restrictions seen elsewhere in the region. Iran is home to the deadliest outbreak in the Middle East.
Source: https://www.cp24.com/world/iran-shuts-down-newspaper-that-claimed-covid-19-toll-was-vastly-underreported-1.5057776
It comes as no surprise Iran has been “cooking the books”, so to speak. Like Russia, Iran is no stranger to spreading disinformation. This is likely to prevent the world from knowing how badly it bungled the outbreak.
On top of lying about the official COVID numbers, Iran has taken full advantage of the coronavirus to crack down on dissent and freedom of speech. Iran enjoys little freedom of speech, if any, but the government is ramping up its containment of political undesirables.
Nasrin was a prominent Human Rights lawyer in Iran before being arrested on bogus charges. As an act of further intimidation, the government arrested her daughter yesterday.
Iran continues its crackdown on dissidents.
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and does not necessarily reflect the views of Toronto Today.